Loading...
Examining the intended and unintended impacts of raising a minimum legal drinking age on primary and secondary societal harm and violence from a contextual policy perspective: A scoping review
Roodbeen,R. T. J. Dijkstra,R. I. Schelleman-Offermans,K. Friele,R. D. van de Mheen,Dike
Roodbeen,R. T. J.
Dijkstra,R. I.
Schelleman-Offermans,K.
Friele,R. D.
van de Mheen,Dike
Abstract
Raising a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has generated interest and debate in research and politics, but opposition persists. Up to now, the presentation of impacts focussed on effectiveness (i.e., intended impact); to our knowledge, no literature syntheses focussed on both intended and unintended impacts. A systematic scoping review was conducted in which a search strategy was developed iteratively and literature was obtained from experts in alcohol research and scientific and grey databases. Ninety-one studies were extracted and analysed using formative thematic content analysis. Intended impacts were reported in 119 units of information from the studies (68% positive), forming four paths: implementation, primary and (two) on secondary societal harm and violence. Unintended developments were reported in 43 units of information (30% positive), forming five themes. Only eight studies reported on implementation. Furthermore, a division between primary and secondary paths and the use of a bridging variable (drinking patterns in analyses or methodology) was discovered. These results provide an insight into how well legislation works and can be used to discover or implement new means of curbing underage drinking and alcohol-related violence and harm. They also offer valuable starting points for future research and underline the importance of considering unintended developments.
Description
Funding Information: This work was supported by Tranzo, Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg University. No external funding was received.
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Alcohol policy, Environmental research, Minimum legal drinking age, Policy impact, Public health, Scoping review, Societal harm, Societal violence, Underage youth, SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
Citation
Roodbeen, R T J, Dijkstra, R I, Schelleman-Offermans, K, Friele, R D & van de Mheen, D 2021, 'Examining the intended and unintended impacts of raising a minimum legal drinking age on primary and secondary societal harm and violence from a contextual policy perspective : A scoping review', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 4, 1999. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041999